Adil Bhatti (MC) showing the Front Page of the Washingington Post's story on Montgomery College

As we grow College Cricket exponentially, and cricket becomes the next huge College sport in the USA & Canada, American College Cricket wishes recognize and give positive reinforcement to Clubs, Colleges, people and actions that further the college cricket movement. We therefore announce the following Awards – based on facts, anecdotal input from students,and observation.

Though not perfect we believe it will also help answer the inquiries we receive, nationally & internationally from students about cricket in USA Universities, and guide students looking to continue playing in College.These Awards cover particpants in the 2009 & 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championships.
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American College Cricket AWARDS (2009-2010 Season) -

PIONEERS
The teams of the first Championship believed in the vision. 4 out of the 5 were created specifically for the first Championship.University of Miami, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, Montgomery College, & University of South Florida.
In every case they were motivated by American College Cricket & 1 team leader, and used their own resources. The leaders were Kalpesh Patel (UMiami), Sumantro Das (BU),Atishe Chordia (CMU), Suchit Laheri (MC) & Ujval Choksi (USF)

ORGANIZATION & CONTINUITYUniversity of Southern Caifornia (USC Trojans) – club was started in 1992 by Arvin Varma (now Assistant Director for Recreational Sports at USC & ACC Advisory Board Member).
Honorable mention :Ohio State University (Buckeyes) -started in 1991. has dues paying members. Holds an annual tapeball tournament with hundreds of participants.University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) – founded in 2004.Rutgers University -in a hotbed for cricket, New Jersey.

TEAM RECOGNITION (by University)York University - Champions featured in University Admissions Handbook (for International Students),College media & Alumni articles.
Honorable mention:UMBC – featured as Headline story on Homepage of College websiteWooster - attendance at games by the College President and cricket Press Releases.

TEAM RECOGNITION (non-media External)Montgomery College - 2009 Champions honored with a Proclamation by the Montgomery County Council presented by its President Nancy Floreen

BIGGEST STEP FORWARDWooster - making cricket the featured game at their October 2010 Homecoming : Wooster Cricket Club vs Alumnis
Honorable mention:Auburn – upon finding out the (informal) Cricket Club was going to particpate in the Championship the University asked it to be official & to use the name Auburn University.UMBC - being featured on Homepage of the University website

TEAM EFFORT & COMMITMENTUSC - putting together the resources to come from the West Coast to the 2010 Championship
Honorable mention – all 19 other teams who did what they had to do to be a part of the 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship.

TEACHING OF CRICKETUniversity of Minnesota (UMN) – has 1 Credit Course in Cricket (for past 5 years).Montgomery College - has visited St Patrick’s Episcopal Elementary School to teach kids cricket.Has appointment at a High School.UMiami – taught cricket to 8 new players who then played in the 2010 American college Cricket Championship

TEAM SPIRITMontgomery College - in 2009 came together for the first time & showed a camaraderie & cohesiveness repeated at the 2010 Championship.
Honorable mention:University of Minnesota (UMN) -drove to & from the 2010 Championship

FRESHMEN – ( for the newest team that accomplished the most).York College - begun just 3 months before,with no real team practice, and reached the Finals.
Honorable mention:George Mason -put together weeks before the ChampionshipThunderbird

PRESIDENT’S AWARD (for bringing athletes from a non-cricket background into the game)University of Miami (UMiami)
- included Richard Brady Williams, Aaron Lee Wiggleman & Alex Mitow of a non-cricket background plus Ravi Ashok Patel,Kishin Tharani, Abid Sabzali,Vishal Sinha, & Kushang Shah who grew up in the USA & had not previously played cricket (though their parents were from a cricket background). These players were included through the efforts of Kalpesh Patel.

Honorable mention:College of Wooster - Club Vice President Ian Carlin, from Pittsburg,comes from a Football & Baseball background.Danny Tomes, from Michigan, came from Football and John Derksen.George Washington University - Club was started by 3 guys who grew up in a non-cricket environment : Curt Sonnet (former high school football player, zero cricket background), Alexander Sternberg (of New York) and. Ankit D’Sheth (of New Orleans), though the latter 2 parents originally came from Australia & India respectively.

SPECIAL GUESTSUniversity of the West Indies - their Cricket Program under Athletic Director Roland Butcher appears to be excellent, and they have a MAster’s in cricket ! They were the ideal barometer for the American & Canadian Universities to measure themselves against.

BEST CHEERLEADERS
Disappointedly,so far no winners.

Since the 2010 American College Cricket Spring Break Championship many schools have joined American College Cricket, of which we have formally announced some. These schools were not included in this year’s Awards but will no doubt feature in the 2011 Awards.